


Tumbling Down

by antikytheranComplicator



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Christmas gift fic for a friend, F/M, Fluff, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5569309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antikytheranComplicator/pseuds/antikytheranComplicator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave makes the most inopportune reference of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tumbling Down

Tumbling Down

 

It was the absolute least convenient time for Dave Strider to fall down some stairs.

He knew it was going to happen sooner or later. The chaotic irony gods wouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip through their tentacled grasp. But for it to happen now, of all times, was even worse than Dave ever could’ve expected. He really shouldn’t have let his guard down.

Of course the ultimate reference to his beloved comic happened the one time he got to see Jade Harley in person.

He had absolutely no idea how any of this had happened. All he did was off-handedly mention that being able to hang out with her would be nice, and after a quick “bec can take care of that! :D” he got a text from Jade out of nowhere which said that she was in the lobby right now. His brief fit of skepticism was soon ended when Jade sent him a horrible selfie of her and Bec standing next to the notorious, oddly bong-shaped plant next to his apartment building’s main staircase.

Dave couldn’t even muster up a response to that. He’d known Jade for years, but he’d never expected her to find even an affordable, much less an instantaneous, way off her island. The thought of being able to meet her made him more nervous than he’d been in years. It was only recently a year to the day from when he privately admitted to himself that he’d somehow fallen for Jade, but he never imagined he would ever be able to go anywhere beyond wondering whether she was actually flirting with him in some of her more ambiguous texts.

But he adjusted his shades and steeled his nerves, and calmly walked out of the Strider apartment. And then it once again hit the poor, hormone-charged boy that JADE FUCKING HARLEY was here to see him, and he ran towards the staircase as fast as he could.

It figures he couldn’t warn himself the one time he really needed to.

He realized his mistake the moment his center of gravity just edged past the point of no return to send his body tumbling down five flights of stairs. Every painful jab caused by a collision with one of the near-infinite caustic steps was a reminder that not even his life’s greatest, JPEG artifact-covered work was enough to save him from his own hubris. And the thought that when he reached the bottom he would find the ultimate embarrassment never left his mind.

When he came rocketing through the staircase exit on the bottom floor, he found Jade standing in just the right spot to see his high-speed exit. His fall was finally broken by the surprisingly sturdy bong-shaped plant, and Jade was able to get a good look at him.

As she first stared at the bruise-covered boy, her face quickly turned to one that showed genuine concern, then --for the split second when she realized just what Dave fell down-- it turned to laughter, and finally back to concern. She ran over to him as soon as she got over the shock of seeing him in that state.

“Oh my god, Dave, are you okay?”

Dave just groaned. He was already embarrassed enough, and he knew he still had some explaining to do.

“What a great way to make a first impression on your crush,” he thought. He knew even John wouldn’t have been anywhere near this awkward.

“Dave…?” Jade was getting visibly more worried at his lack of response, and moved even closer to him, trying to get a response.

Right when Dave thought he had the perfect string of words to at least mildly salvage the situation, Jade did the one thing that he found unpredictable even by her standards.

She grabbed his hand.

Dave couldn’t think of anything else to say to that, but when he noticed Jade’s face reddening, he figured there might be a bit of hope for today after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, Alex!
> 
> Thanks for reading! All constructive criticism is welcome.


End file.
